Social Security
Found 257 Articles.
Get access to our full article archive by subscribing to Retirement Watch and Retirement Watch Spotlight Series.
Answering More Social Security Questions
My recent articles on maximizing Social Security benefits generated a lot of interest among readers and triggered some good questions. In this visit we review some key questions readers asked. My wife died recently. I’m 62 and haven’t begun receiving any Social Security benefits. Since I’m older than 60, I’m eligible to receive survivor’s benefits. […]
Covering the Overlooked Income Risk
At the bottom of the list of insurance policies most people consider is disability insurance. It’s the last policy people buy and the first they cut when cash becomes tight. Yet, disability insurance is essential for a package of complete protection, and at many ages you’re more likely to need it than other types of […]
Planning for Singles’ Social Security Benefits
Most people leave a lot of money on the table when choosing their Social Security retirement benefits. It’s understandable. The rules can be complicated, and there are nuances in them. Plus, there aren’t many people offering advice on how to maximize benefits. Last month and in other visits we detailed different ways married couples can […]
Have You Paid for Government Retirement Benefits?
Ezra Klein of The Washington Post periodically writes provocative columns about Social Security and Medicare. One of his basic points is that seniors haven’t really paid for the benefits they’re expecting to receive during retirement. Most have paid less in Medicare payroll taxes than they’ll receive in benefits. For Social Security, it’s more of a […]
Understanding Stock Market Returns
I don’t spend much attention to discussions in the financial media of stock market returns, especially forecasts of them. They’re so misbegotten it is almost comically. On those occasions when I find a good discussion of equity returns, I refer it to you. This piece from PIMCO explains how the fund firm analyses equity returns […]
Maximizing Spouses’ Social Security Benefits
Most people make the wrong decisions about their Social Security benefits and in doing so leave a lot of money on the table. Married couples have the most flexibility and options. When a couple coordinates their Social Security retirement benefits, they increase by tens of thousands of dollars the amount of lifetime income they receive. […]
The Folly of Stock Market Forecasts and Predictions
One of the themes of my book Invest Like a Fox…Not Like a Hedgehog is that people often misuse or misunderstand statistics. This is particularly true in investing, but it’s also true in other areas. Nate Silver made a big name for himself in 2012 by bolding predicting a big victory for President Obama. Previously, […]
Reducing Medicare Premiums, Social Security Taxes and More
Retirees face the highest marginal tax rates. They use the same tax tables as everyone else, but there are nuances in the tax code that can trigger higher marginal rates for seniors. For retirees in what I call the marginal rate trap zone, reducing gross income or taxable in-come can have powerful benefits. The marginal […]
